Spike setter carriage



S p 1949- K. KERSHAW ET AL 2,481,483

SPIKE SETTER CARRIAGE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 6, 1946 IN VEN TOR.

A TTTOFfA/E Y KM Sept. 13, 1949. K.

KERSHAW ETAL 2,481,483

v SPIKE SETTER CARRIAGE Filed Sept. 6, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I N VENTOR.

Roy e Mrs/law TTQR/VEV W Patented Sept. 13, 1949 STATES PATs-ENT OFFICESPIKE SETTER 'CARRIAGE Knox Kershaw and RoyceKershaw,

Montgomery,.A1a.

1 Claim. -1 This iinvention relates "to $2, ccarriage for ruse settingrailroad spikes to he later driven home by uneans of mechanical spikrlrivers .or other means, and has for .an .object the provision ofzapparatuszof vthecharacter designated which shall Ehe propelled by .theoperator "pushing :on the {ground withhisieet .andon'which there iscarmied ,a ssupply of railroad "spikes :within his easy meazch.

CA furthen objectiofour invention is to provide a carriage of thecharacter designated which shall include an operators seat and a spikestorage bin so situated that the operator is in position to set thespikes with a small hammer, straight and true, for final driving.

A still further object of our invention is to provide a carriage for usein setting railroad track spikes whereby the arduous physical laborusually associated with such work may be greatly reduced.

As is well known in the art to which our invention relates, the settingand driving of railroad track spikes has heretofore involved a greatamount of extremely hard physical labor. It has heretofore been thepractice to assign one workman to carry and distribute spikes along thetrack, another workman to set and hold the spikes, and two other workmenwith sledges to drive the spikes home. By means of our invention, themanual labor involved can easily be accomplished by one workman. ourinvention embodies a relatively light carriage which may be readilylifted on and on the railroad track. Included in the carriage is a mainframe having tandem double flanged supporting wheels riding on one railof the track and having an operators seat on one end and a storage binfor railroad spikes on the other end, facing the operator. A dischargegate for the spikes is within ready reach of the operator and from thisgate he withdraws the spikes, sets and starts them with a small hammerwhile in a sitting position. Sockets are provided on both sides of themain frame for detachably connecting a transverse frame member whichcarries a fiangeless wheel which rides on the opposite rail of therailroad track. By this means, the carriag may be mounted on either railof the track, and propelled by the operator in the same direction.

Apparatus embodying features of our invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, forming a part of this application, in which Fig.l is a plan view thereof;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly in section;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation showing the carriage on one rail of thetrack; and

2 \view --showing the carriage the track and the transopposite .side of:Eig. 3.4 is aa similar :cn the-opposite rail :of verse member-.connected .to the thefrnain frame.

Referring mow -to the drawings :fDl' "a better understanding of our:invention, we .show .a :railroad. :track embodying rails .10 and 1 l.and cross +2. Mounted on the track :is our improved *carriage -whichcomprises a relatively long main as which may :be .constructedwof zany:suitable material such as standard, rolled steel shapes, pipe, or otherknown structural forms which provide strength with light weight. Thecarriage I3 is supported by tandem double flanged wheels l4 and Ithaving axles I! and 18 which are journalled in the main frame.

Joined to the main frame l3, on opposite sides thereof, are two socketmembers I!) and M which may conveniently be made of short sections ofpipe welded to the main frame. A transverse frame member 22 is adaptedto fit in either of the sockets l9 or 2| and be secured thereto by meansof bolts or other suitable fastening means 23. The transverse framemember 22 has journalled on its outer end a fiangeless wheel 24, orroller, which rests on the opposite rail H of the railroad track. Asshown in Figs. 1 and 3, the main frame I3 with its supporting wheels l4and I6 is mounted on the rail H1. By detaching the transverse framemember 22 and inserting it in the socket [9, the carriage may be mountedon the rail H without being turned around.

Mounted on one end of the main frame !3 is an operators seat 26 which ismade relatively low, as shown in Fig. 2, whereby a workman sitting onthe seat, is not required to bend over an undue amount in accomplishinghis task. On the opposite end of the main frame l3, facing the operatorsseat 25 is a spike storage bin 21 which may conveniently be made up ofstructural steel angles and plates. The storage bin is provided with asloping bottom 28 which delivers the spikes in the bin to a dischargegate 29 Within easy reach of a Workman on the operators seat 26.

In operation, a workman seated on the seat 26, as shown in Fig. 2,pushes the carriage backward by means of his feet engaging the groundalongside the main frame. As the carriage is pushed backwards, theworkman reaches the spikes in the discharge gate 29, sets them andstarts them by means of a small sledge hammer 30, as shown in Fig. 2.After the spikes have been set for the required distance on rail I0, thecarriage is returned, the main frame with its wheels l4 and I6 is placedon the rail II, the transverse frame member 22 is removed from thesocket 2| and placed in the socket 19, as shown in Fig. 4, and theworkman then sets the spikes along the opposite rail ll. After thespikes have been set as described they are driven home by a mechanicalspike driver, not shown, or other suitable means.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that We have devised an improvedmeans for setting railroad track spikes which is simple and sturdy offonstruction and which serves to reduce greatly he manual labor involvedin this operation.

While we have shown our invention in but one form, it will be obvious tothose skilled in theart that it is not so limited, but is susceptible ofvari-, ous changes and modifications, without departing from the spiritthereoiland we desire, therefore,

adapted to fit in either socket, a wheel carried by the outer end of thetransverse frame member adapted to rest on the opposite rail of thetrack,

an operators seat on one end of the main frame over one of thesupporting Wheels and of such height that when seated thereon, theoperators feet are in engagement with the ground in position to propelthe carriage, a spike storage bin on the other end of the frame, spacedfrom the seat and having a discharge opening therein in 'easy reach of aworkman on the operator's seat 'andafiording an uninterrupted space inwhich to manipulate a spike setters hammer, and a sloping bottom in thestorage bin for delivering the spikes to the discharge opening.

KNOX KERSHAW. ROYCE KERSHAW.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name 1 Date 175,266 Banning ;'Mar.' 28,1876246,000 Ferres Aug. 23, 1881 260,903 Sheflield .l July 11,1882 701,900Larson June '10, 1902 1,081,080 Adams Dec; 9, 1913 1,100,322 ODay June16, 1914 7 1,819,945 Collet Aug.18, 1931 2,016,877 Talboys Oct. 8,1935

